Open to New Possibilities

Have I mentioned that I am middle-aged?  I mention it only because it seems this time of life allows a person to get back to doing the 'things' they always wanted to indulge in, but perhaps didn't have the time for in early life decades.

Back in the days when my day planner was full of orthodontist, doctor & dentist appointments; when week nights were all booked up with sports practice, girl guide meetings, dance classes & guitar lessons, & weekends were spent on the sidelines of soccer games or watching tournaments or delivering your son's newspaper route as he was away at a wrestling match!

Oh, I loved those days, those busy, busy days. Alas my children are grown now, and no grandchildren will be arriving for sometime.  It becomes clear that an opportunity has presented itself . One of free time to pursue interests, even passions that I never was able to fully explore during those early life decades.

Like baking, or sewing & quilting & gardening.  Oh I sewed extensively when my children were little - just ask my serger that now sits in the craft closet gathering dust.

And did I bake when they were little? Of course I did! I made the best chocolate chip cookies & some amazing muffins as well! No better way to round out a packed lunch than with some home baking.

And of course I gardened. Our little white cape cod house always had petunias, marigolds or impatiens  growing along the front walkway when our family was young. Our home was very charming.

But did I really have the chance to garden or bake or sew to my heart's content. Did I fully explore every aspect of these hobbies? Indulge in the best tools of the craft? Well of course not, we were on a budget!  My children were at the centre of my world and other interests were always peripheral. And I loved it that way, it seemed everything was in balance and that was how I wanted it.

But nowadays, life has changed. No longer do small children live in our charming little house. While I do work full-time at a very interesting job, there still seems to be many free hours in my day planner. So I have decided to make great use of this time & begin seeing middle-age as an opportunity to really expand on crafts/interests that I 've always loved: baking, cooking, gardening & sewing.  And maybe learn new crafts, there is a whole new world of fun applications using new technologies that did not exist pre-21st century- blogging being one of them!, or learn old ones (such as hand embroidery/stitchery - I think it could be a very satisfying handicraft).

Pictured here is a small sampling of cherry fabrics available to a quilting enthusiast! I have several more yards coming by mail in the next week as I plan to start working on some quilt projects this summer. And there is a flat of lovely french lavender that awaits planting in my freshly dug garden bed.